The United States, the ITO, and the WTO: Exit Options, Agent Slack, and Presidential Leadership
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A central issue facing the newly-created World Trade Organization is "the U.S. question."
That is, to what extent will the United States abide by the spirit as well as the letter of the
WTO's rules rather than going its own way de facto if not de jure? And what will shape the
extent of U.S. compliance? In this paper we attempt to identify the distinctive features of the
historical context that will shape the outcome. We do so by comparing the debate over the
WTO with that surrounding the International Trade Organization. In analyzing the two
episodes, we distinguish three stages in the process of reaching an international agreement:
negotiation, ratification, and compliance. Our analysis of U.S. behavior in these stages
emphasizes three factors: exit options (the value of the best alternative to ratifying an
agreement), the slack between U.S. principals and their negotiating agents, and the
presidential effort spent to build domestic support.